Saturday, December 6, 2008

December 6, 1947:The Everglades National Park in Florida is dedicated.

"In the Everglades there's a way of life, it's a way of peace without stress or strife; there's a fellow there who protects these rights; Lincoln Vail of the Everglades, the man on patrol in the Everglades..."

That way of life in the Everglades was featured in the following shows:

Friday, December 5, 2008

December 5, 1831:Former US President John Quincy Adams takes his seat in the House of Representatives.

The tenth episode of 'The Adams Chronicles' mini-series had William Daniels portray the elderly former President. It showed this chapter in his life, when he went against the wishes of most of his family; they wanted him to turn his attention to writing the family's history. But he accepted the chance to represent his district in Congress.

While there, Adams faced opposition from those in the South who thought he did too much for the cause of abolition. At the same time, there were those in the North who threatened his life for doing too little.

During his time in Congress, Adams appeared before the Supreme Court to petition for the Negroes who took command of the Amistad, in hopes to escape their future of slavery. He also successfully fought off an attempt to censure him for presenting a petition from his constituents to dissolve the Union.

In 1847, when he was 80 years old, John Quincy Adams was stricken just as he was about to protest a motion to honor the Mexican generals who were once the enemies of the Union. After being visited by Henry Clay, Adams pronounced himself composed to meet the end.

Thursday, December 4, 2008

December 4, 1872:The crewless American ship Mary Celeste is found by the British brig Dei Gratia (the ship was abandoned for 9 days but was only slightly damaged).

From "The Doctor Who Chronology":The Chase: Flight Through Eternity: The 1st Doctor, Ian, Barbara, and Vicki land on the Mary Celeste while fleeing the Daleks. After they leave, the Daleks arrive, frightening all on board into abandoning ship.

From "The Doctor Who Reference Guide":

On board a sailing ship, the captain, Briggs, laments their situation to his first mate, Mr. Richardson. They are making poor time and are now becalmed off Santa Maria in the Azores. He leaves Richardson in charge and goes below. The TARDIS materializes on board the ship. Barbara sees where they are on the scanner and gets very excited. She loves sailing ships and must go out for a quick look, despite Ian's warnings. But she is immediately found and caught by Richardson, who believes she is a stow-away. Ian and the Doctor discuss their predicament, realizing what they need is some large, open space in which to fight the Daleks. Ian heads out to retrieve Barbara and Vicki, who has followed her out. Richardson starts to take Barbara below decks when he is clubbed on the head by Vicki, hiding on the deck above. When the women hear someone else coming, Vicki hides, hitting the newcomer hard just as he reaches Barbara. However, it is Ian she has struck, and he nearly topples down the stairs as he fall unconscious. Vicki and Barbara haul him back to the ship.

Richardson wakes up just as the TARDIS dematerializes. Richardson calls Captain Briggs and tells him confusedly about the stowaways. He believes it is the White Terror, but the Captain dismisses this as only a sailor's superstition. The Captain organizes his men into a search. The Dalek time machine materializes on the ship amid the search, convincing the sailors that the White Terror has indeed come. Many of the men simply jump overboard in their panic. Some attempt to fight, but they can do nothing against the Daleks. Once the sailors are despatched, the Daleks are free to search for the TARDIS, but the time machine is obviously not here.

One sailor, straggling from below decks, emerges and sees the Daleks. One of the creatures tries to question him, but he backs away until he falls in. The Dalek, not seeing the edge of the deck, also falls over. The rest of the Daleks reembark, leaving the ship, the Marie Celeste, to drift empty across the sea.

I can't give any specific examples, but based on the great frame grabs I've seen over the last year from my blogging buddy Scott at TVTanline.com, I'm thinking there were a few other choices that could have made the list as well!BCnU!Toby O'B

There's an episode of 'Burke's Law' from its second season entitled "Who Killed SuperSleuth?" in which L.A. Police Chief Gaynor was killed in a classic locked room scenario. It happened during a banquet celebrating the greatest detectives of the world, and since no one else had access to the hotel floor where the banquet was held, then one of those detectives must have "dunnit".

Except for the lone female detective, Hungarian Commissar Ilona Buda, each of the other four attendees could be seen as a spoof of characters from classic detective fiction. (I suppose they needed a sexy female detective - after all, this was 'Burke's Law'! But to be true to the spirit of the enterprise, there should have been a detective based on Miss Marple. Perhaps Elsa Lanchester could have appeared yet again on the show in the role, anticipating her turn as Miss Marbles in Neil Simon's "Murder By Death".)There was the private investigator Caligula Foxe (Thomas Gomez), a gourmand of epic proportions who raised daffodils. But unlike his inspiration, Nero Wolfe, Foxe didn't have a legman like Archie Goodwin to do the actual work for him, so he had to leave his townhouse in order to work his cases. Even though Rex Stout's creation also existed in Toobworld (and in fact sired a son at some point who bore the same name and followed his father in the same line of work), Caligula Foxe doesn't have to be seen as just a pastiche. He could have just happened to share similar characteristics with the two gentlemen named Nero Wolfe.

Then there was Inspector House of Scotland Yard (Carl Reiner). He definitely patterned his appearance on Sherlock Holmes and tried to analyze small clues to learn about the people he came in contact with. However, I think the effort either drove him mad, or he had Providence on his side when solving his cases, because he was terrible at making such deductions based on observation. And yet if he was considered one of the greatest detectives in the world, he must have still been able to solve his cases. I'm thinking he had to be the Scotland Yard version of Maxwell Smart of CONTROL!

Also in attendance at that banquet was Mr. Toto of Japan (J. Carroll Naish). Although we're led to believe he was based on the character of Mr. Moto, that was only based on similar glasses, the slight distortion in the name, and the fact that a Caucasian actor was playing the role (like Peter Lorre as Mr. Moto, Boris Karloff as Mr. Wong, and several actors who portrayed Charlie Chan over the years). I don't think there has to be any connection or even acknowledgement of Mr. Moto in regards to Mr. Toto.Finally, there was the Inspector from the French Surete, Bascule Doirot (Ed Begley), whose name I've also seen in print as Pascule Doireaux (which I actually prefer, but most sources list it as the former). I believe that from birth, Bascule Doirot's life had been patterned after that of the famous Belgian detective Hercule Poirot.

Based on information gleaned from the many stories about Hercule Poirot written by Agatha Christie, the Belgian was born in the 1870s and was active in the police force in that country by 1893. (Since many of these stories - especially "Peril At End House" - were adapted for the TV series in which David Suchet played Poirot, then we can take these facts as applying to Toobworld as well.) Bascule Doirot was born in 1901, based on the Toobworld premise that most TV characters are the same age as the actors who played them. So by then, Poirot must have already made a name for himself as a police detective in Belgium. Doirot's parents, noting the similarity in their last names, gave their son a similar first name in tribute - from Hercule to Bascule (or Pascule).The case that gave Poirot his international fame, "The Mysterious Affair At Styles", occurred in 1916 when Poirot was billeted in England with other Belgian refugees. By this time, Doirot would have been in his teens; he probably read of Poirot's solution to the murder and found a hero in the man after whom he was named. And so Bascule Doirot patterned his life after that of Hercule Poirot. He became a detective in the Surete, grew his fancy mustaches, and often referred to his "little grey cells".

Unlike Poirot, whose mustaches were quite prominent in their own regard, Doirot grew his to cartoonish proportions. I think this may be due to his being also influenced by Salvador Dali, the artist.

So there you have it; of those four detectives who attended the banquet, I think only two of them were directly influenced by their literary forebears. Also, Mr. Moto has never been portrayed in Toobworld, save by characters wishing to emulate Moto, as fans of the movies (in episodes of 'Remington Steele' and 'Matt Houston'.

December 3, 1979:In Cincinnati, Ohio, eleven fans are killed during a stampede for seats before a Who concert at Riverfront Coliseum.Wikipedia provides the details:

On December 3, 1979, eleven fans were killed by compressive asphyxia and several dozen others injured in the rush for seating at the opening of a sold-out concert by English rock band The Who. The concert was using "festival seating", (also known as "general seating"), where the best seats are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Due to the festival seating, many fans arrived early. When the crowds waiting outside heard the band performing a late sound check, they thought that the concert was beginning and tried to rush into the still-closed doors. Some at the front of the crowd were trampled as those pushing from behind were unaware that the doors were still closed. Only a few doors were in operation that night, and there are reports that management did not open more doors due to the concern of people sneaking past the ticket turnstiles.

(The Who were not informed of the deaths until after the show and they were very upset to learn that fans had died trying to see the performance.)As a result, concert venues across North America switched to assigned seating or changed their rules about festival seating. Cincinnati immediately outlawed festival seating at concerts, although it overturned the ban on August 4, 2004. The ban was making it difficult for Cincinnati to book concerts since many music acts prefer festival seating because it could allow the most enthusiastic fans to get near the stage and generate excitement for the rest of the crowd. Some performers and bands insist on a festival seating area near the stage. The city had made a one-time exception to the ban before August 4, 2004, allowing festival seating for a Bruce Springsteen concert. Cincinnati was, at one time, the only city in the United States to outlaw festival seating altogether.

One of the people who was caught up in the surging crowd remembers the nightmare:

“A wave swept me to the left and when I regained my stance I felt that I was standing on someone. The helplessness and frustration of this moment sent a wave of panic through me. I screamed with all my strength that I was standing on someone. I couldn’t move. I could only scream. Another wave came and pushed me further left towards the door. I felt my leg being pulled to the right. The crowd shifted again and I reached down and grabbed an arm at my leg. I struggled for awhile and finally pulled up a young girl who also had a young boy clinging to her limbs. They were barely conscious and their faces were filled with tears.” - Ron Duristch

At the time of this tragedy, 'WKRP In Cincinnatti' was on the CBS schedule. Not only was it a show set in the Cincinnatti of 1979, but it also dealt with a rock 'n' roll radio station. If Toobworld reflects the real world for the most part, the producers probably felt that they had to address the situation, even though they were a sitcom.

Two months later, they offered up the following episode.....

"In Concert"At a concert by the Who in Cincinnati on December 3, 1979, eleven kids were trampled to death when the crowd rushed to get seats. The first part of this episode takes place before that concert; the second act takes place the day after, and presents the characters' reactions to the tragedy. b: 11 Feb 80 pc: 043 w: Steven Kampmann d: Linda Day NOTE:This episode was dedicated to the 11 people who died on 12/3/79 outside Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati, OH. On 12/27/79, the City of Cincinnati outlawed general admission, or "festival seating".[from epguides.com]

At the time, it was rare for a TV show, especially a sitcom, to incorporate current events into their storylines. Even today it's rare for a sitcom to do so. The tragedy of 9/11 has been addressed on dramas like 'Without A Trace', 'Boston Legal', 'CSI: NY', and the 'Law & Order' franchise, but as for sitcoms? The closest 'Friends' ever came to the subject was through a T-shirt worn by Joey Tribbiani in one episode, and even that was a tenuous connection. ('Becker' had a memorable episode about the aftermath with guest star Frances Sternhagen.)

Back then, it may have been expected from 'All In The Family' or 'Maude', perhaps 'Soap', but 'WKRP'?

I was hoping hulu.com might have the episode, but no luck on that score. And it's probably a series you'll never see released on DVD due to music copyrights......

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

I'm now caught up on 'Fringe'; I fell behind due to a vacation in Colorado. But with tomorrow's episode, the queue will more than likely begin again. Oh well.

In the latest episode that I've seen, "The Equation", a young kidnap victim was abducted in Middletown, Connecticut, and he hailed from Highland, Connecticut. This was verified by those giant block letter graphics which hover in the air before each scene on the show. And the Middletown graphic is the best so far on the series, even better than seeing the one for Baghdad, Iraq, from below it in the pilot. That's because we can see the rain actually splattering off the letters.

This means that these location graphics are definitely part of Toobworld, but that they must be invisible to the eye of TV characters, seen only by those of us viewing at home. (Unless, of course, those TV characters are tele-cognizant.)

I grew up in Connecticut; spent my first 22 years there and still go back there for my vacations at "The Lake". But I had never heard of Highland, Connecticut, and so I thought it might have been fictional like other tele-Connecticut towns such as Joyville, Dunn's River, Stepford, and my own Twigganum from my Toobworld novel.

But I did a map search for it and not only does it exist, but it's practically right next door to my hometown! I guess it's some kind of incorporated hamlet like Yalesville, which borders my hometown on another side.

My hometown did make at least one appearance in Toobworld - the son of Dr. Paulette Kiem began his hitch-hiking trek from there to reach her at St. Eligius Hospital in Boston ('St. Elsewhere').

So here's what Wikipedia has on the place:

The Highland Historic District is a U.S. historic district in Middletown, Connecticut. It is located near Atkins Street and Country Club Road. On June 28, 1982, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

(The reason listed for its registration as an historic district is because of all the well-preserved Colonial houses on Atkins Street.)

Monday, December 1, 2008

World AIDS Day, observed December 1 each year, is dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection. AIDS has killed more than 25 million people, with an estimated 33.2 million people living with HIV, making it one of the most destructive epidemics in recorded history. Despite recent, improved access to antiretroviral treatment and care in many regions of the world, the AIDS epidemic claimed an estimated 3.1 million (between 2.8 and 3.6 million) lives in 2005, of which more than half a million (570,000) were children.

The concept of a World AIDS Day originated at the 1988 World Summit of Ministers of Health on Programmes for AIDS Prevention. Since then, it has been taken up by governments, international organizations and charities around the world. Since 1995 the President of the United States has made an official proclamation on World AIDS Day. Governments of other nations have followed suit and issued similar announcements.

It is common to hold memorials to honor persons who have died from HIV/AIDS on this day. Government and health officials also observe, often with speeches or forums on the AIDS topics.

Therefore, here is a partial list of some of the Toobworld characters who have passed away from AIDS:Cindy Parker Chandler, 'All My Children'Gill Fowler, 'EastEnders'

There are many others who have tested positively for HIV in TV shows, and finally TV writers have gone beyond the easy out of an over-the-top dramatic storyline in which the character dies. Instead, there are characters - like Robin Scorpio of 'General Hospital' and Jeannie Boulet of 'ER' - who have contracted the disease but are still able to live out their lives on their shows.

Day Without Art (DWA) began on December 1st 1989 as the national day of action and mourning in response to the AIDS crisis. To make the public aware that AIDS can touch everyone, and inspire positive action, some 800 U.S. art and AIDS groups participated in the first Day Without Art, shutting down museums, sending staff to volunteer at AIDS services, or sponsoring special exhibitions of work about AIDS. Since then, Day With(out) Art has grown into a collaborative project in which an estimated 8,000 national and international museums, galleries, art centers, AIDS Service Organizations, libraries, high schools and colleges take part.

Sunday, November 30, 2008

So 'Psych' returned for a special holiday episode this past week, and delivered the Toobworld equivalent of coal in our stocking - a Zonk!

Zonks are those pesky discrepancies which play hob with the integrity of the TV Universe. Usually it's a reference to another TV show as a TV show, when both shows should be co-existing in the same dimension. However, this time it was the classic "Darrin Discrepancy", a recastaway, in which a character is now played by a new actor with no splainin made for the change in his appearance.In this case, Gus' Dad, who was played once before by Ernie Hudson, was now portrayed by Keith David. Both good actors, both right for the role, but neither one looking like the other. The shape of the face (and the nose is always a major factor), the body build, the amount of hair and its style, even pigmentation, keeps us from turning a blind eye to the casting change within the reality of the show.

'Psych' is pretty grounded in the so-called reality of Toobworld; they may investigate cases of ghosts and mummies and co-ed slasher spirits, but those are always debunked when the crime is solved. So I don't think a splainin in which Mr. Guster's facial structure was magically altered by a witch or a genie is going to fly in this case.

However, the show does take place in Santa Barbara, and this is a noted soap opera locale - one in which an entire series bore its name. And soap opera locations are known to be test sites for quantum leapers from the future beyond that of Dr. Sam Beckett. Many characters have been replaced over the years in such locales as Pine Valley, Port Charles, Llanview, Genoa City, Oakland, Salem, Bay City, and in this case, Santa Barbara.

As the viewers in the Trueniverse, what we were seeing was Keith David as the leaper who replaced the original Mr. Guster. Had he looked into a mirror at any point during the episode, we would have seen the visage of Ernie Hudson in the reflection. This splainin will serve until the next time Mr. Guster appears on the show. It could be that Ernie Hudson will be free to come back to play the role again; in that case, then the original Mr. Guster will have returned from the "waiting room" outside the quantum leap accelerator. Or perhaps the producers preferred Keith David in the role, so it would be O'Bvious that the experiment was still in progress. Or who knows? Maybe even a third actor will take over the role the next time. In that case, then a new Leaper had taken over the experiment to explore life in early 21st Century Santa Barbara.

Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 1854 – 30 November 1900) was an Irish playwright, poet, and author of numerous short stories and one novel. Known for his biting wit, he became one of the most successful playwrights of the late Victorian era in London, and one of the greatest celebrities of his day. Several of his plays continue to be widely performed, especially The Importance of Being Earnest. As the result of a widely covered series of trials, Wilde suffered a dramatic downfall and was imprisoned for two years hard labour after being convicted of "gross indecency" with other men. After Wilde was released from prison he set sail for Dieppe by the night ferry. He never returned to Ireland or Britain.[from Wikipedia]

For Toobworld purposes, what may be most interesting in the life of Oscar Wilde may be his lecture tour of the American West. At least four different series/specials depicted different aspects of that trip to 'The Wild, Wild West'. And as a bit of "wish-craft", it might have been interesting to see him show up in an episode of 'The Wild, Wild West', maybe 'Maverick', or 'The Adventures Of Brisco County Jr.' (I think it's always pozz'ble, jes' pozz'ble, that Cousin Beau Maverick might have made Wilde's acquaintance while he lived in Europe.)

Here's a look at his trip to America:

On December 24th, 1881 Oscar Wilde embarked for America and a year-long lecture tour on such topics as "The House Beautiful" and "The Decorative Arts." He may or may not have told passengers that "the roaring ocean does not roar," or told a customs agent that "I have nothing to declare except my genius," but the captain did apparently express his regret at not having Wilde "lashed to the bowsprit on the windward side."

Thousands flocked to see and hear him, and many so took to heart his proclaimed mission "to make this artistic movement the basis for a new civilization" that craft societies and museum patronage blossomed in his wake. Letters home had Wilde crowing that he was a bigger hit than Dickens, the personal adulation necessitating three secretaries: "One writes my autographs all day for my admirers, the other receives the flowers that are left really every ten minutes. A third whose hair resembles mine is obliged to send off locks of his own hair to the myriad maidens of the city, and so is rapidly becoming bald."

Notwithstanding, Wilde was an easy, if not eager, target in America. A few mocked his poetry or his ideas; some, at their peril, mocked his utterances; most made fun of his appearance -- the "great ungainly crane" body, dressed in purple Hungarian smoking jacket with matching turban, knee breeches and black silk stockings, coat lined with lavender satin, everything laced and caped and topped with sky blue cravat. Seeing an opportunity, one Chicago clothing store used a picture of the "Ass-thete" to promote their manlier line. Such frontier manners had Wilde sometimes put out but rarely overmatched, and usually game for any adventure. After one talk in Leadville, a mining town in the Rocky Mountains -- "I spoke to them of the early Florentines, and they slept as though no crime had ever stained the ravines of their mountain home" -- Wilde agreeably descended to the bottom of a silver mine in a bucket ("I of course true to my principle being graceful even in a bucket"). There, to great cheering, he dined, drank whiskey and smoked a cigar, all but preamble to the main event:

Then I had to open a new vein, or lode, which with a silver drill I brilliantly performed, amidst unanimous applause. The silver drill was presented to me and the lode named "The Oscar." I had hoped that in their simple grand way they would have offered me shares in "The Oscar," but in their artless untutored fashion they did not. Only the silver drill remains as a memory of my night at Leadville.

While in the bar that night "with the miners and the female friends of the miners," Wilde noticed the sign "Please don't shoot the pianist; he is doing his best." Back in England, now touring his "Impressions of America," Wilde recalled all this with delight: "I was struck with this recognition of the fact that bad art merits the penalty of death, and I felt that in this remote city, where the aesthetic applications of the revolver were clearly established in the case of music, my apostolic task would be much simplified, as indeed it was."[from "Today In Literature"]

These are the actors who have appeared as Oscar Wilde on Television:

Paul Bartel

. . . "Comic Strip Presents..., The" (1982){Demonella (#7.5)}

Graham Chapman

. . . "Monty Python's Flying Circus" (1969){The British Showbiz Awards (#3.13)}Both of the above performances would be found in Skitlandia.

Tim Curry

. . . "Wild West, The" (1993)This was a documentary in which we only heard Wilde's voice (as provided by Tim Curry).

David Dukes

. . . "Lot, The" (1999){Oscar's Wilde (#2.11)}As this was a series about a 1930s movie studio, I'm not exactly sure in what context Oscar Wilde appears.

Mark Eden

. . . "Sorrell and Son" (1984)Like 'The Lot', this one is a puzzler as it takes place in 1934. I'm not sure what the context is for the appearance - a fancy dress ball?

Peter Egan

. . . "Lillie" (1978)In 1978 London Weekend Television produced a television series about the life of Lillie Langtry entitled Lillie. In it Peter Egan played Oscar. The bulk of his scenes portrayed their close friendship up to and including their tours of America in 1882. Thereafter, he was in a few more scenes leading up to his trials in 1895.

Stephen Fry

. . . "Ned Blessing: The Story of My Life and Times" (1993) {Oscar (#1.4)} TV Series. . . Wilde (1997)Fry's appearance as Wilde in the "Cineverse" provides most of the pictures for this piece. And I like how he resembles Wilde. But I don't know whether I should hold Gambon or Egan to be the official portrait of Wilde for Toobworld. I guess it'll depend on if I ever find pics of either one in the role.....

Michael Gambon

. . . "Oscar" (1985)Michael Gambon portrayed Wilde on British Television in 1983 in the three-part BBC series Oscar concentrating on the trial and prison term.

Richard Kneeland

. . . Feasting with Panthers (1974)A dramatization of the play about Wilde's time spent in prison.Simon MacCorkindale (pictured, right)

. . . "Mentors" (1998){Wilde Card (#1.6)}Using their computer, a brother and sister bring forward historical characters who teach them important life lessons. Wilde taught them to be honest to themselves. The difference in his appearance from others who played Wilde on TV can be splained away by alternate realities - he was brought forward in Time from a different dimension.

. . . "Have Gun - Will Travel" (1957){The Ballad of Oscar Wilde (#2.12)}When the noted British humorist plans an appearance in San Francisco, Paladin must extricate Oscar Wilde from the unpleasant predicament of being held for ransom.

Rowland Rivron

. . . "Gimme, Gimme, Gimme" (1999){Millennium (#1.7)}I'm thinking that in this context, someone might have dressed up as Oscar Wilde for a party......

Philip Sayer

. . . "BBC2 Play of the Week" (1977){Fearless Frank (#2.3)}A look at the career of Frank Harris.

Last season, 'Psych' did a little product placement throughout the run of episodes for a variety of products. For the most part (no matter where you stand on the topic), they worked well when it came to integration into the show; all save a very clunky exchange of dialogue about Dunkin Donuts.

But I guess Dunkin Donuts was happy with the collaboration as far as it went. But I get the feeling that they never would have agreed to participating in the newest 'Psych' promo. Broadcast after the Christmas special was almost over this past Friday, it showed a box of donuts liberally scattered about a murder scene. Nor would they like the gag-inducing gag when it turns out that it wasn't jelly on the jelly donut that Shawn was eating......

Not the kind of image you want to stick in the minds of your potential customers!

I wonder if this donut company was in any way affiliated with the Happy Time temp agency, as seen in 'Dead Like Me'?

Just An Old Cowhand On The TiVo Grande

As the Trickster once said, "Reality is boring, that's why I change it whenever I can."
I'm just "The Man Who Viewed Too Much", and "Inner Toob" is a blog exploring and celebrating the 'reality' of an alternate universe in which everything that ever happened on TV actually takes place.
Most of my theories about the TV Universe come from thinking inside the box and thus can't be proven. But I've never been one to shy away from a tall tale.....
Remember: "The more you watch, the more you've seen!"